While many computer-security vendors offer trial or evaluation versions of their computer-security programs (e.g., antivirus and antispyware programs), recent research indicates that a majority of users of such trialware may not encounter malicious code (“malware”) during the relatively-short trial period typically provided by security vendors (which, in some cases, is no longer than three months). In this scenario, the user may fail to appreciate the need for the computer-security software and may decide to uninstall the software and/or decline to renew their security-software subscription, leaving their security software out of date and their computer unprotected.
Unfortunately, recent research indicates that a substantial portion of users may encounter malware soon after uninstalling trial versions of computer-security software (e.g., within the first ten months of installing trial versions of computer-security software). As such, the instant disclosure identifies a need for demonstrating the necessity of computer-security software by detecting and notifying a user of new security threats, even after the user's security-software subscription has expired.